Money Makes Middle-earth Movies Go Round

If corporate giants valued excellent storytelling over hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world

Feb 10, 2025

It really befuddles and confuses me to no end that an established and respected entertainment industry giant has not only dropped the ball on a Middle Earth project once, but twice. What might I be talking about? I am referring to the newest addition to Middle Earth, The War of the Rohirrim, but I am also referring to the cultural disaster that was the Hobbit franchise.

Don’t misunderstand me; despite their many flaws, I love the Hobbit movies with all my heart. I watch them at least once a year and my current phone case features Richard Armitage’s deep voiced Dwarven prince, Thorin Oakenshield. However, my love for the movies doesn’t blind me from acknowledging their and acknowledging that rather than being a true depiction of the book they serve much better as prequels to the Lord of the Rings movies. It is my opinion that understanding the story behind the making of the Hobbit movies is key to why the latest Middle-earth adaptation had a similar reception by audiences.

A Brief History Lesson

In order to understand War of the Rohirrim a little better, let me take you back in time. Each Hobbit installment released every Christmas season from 2013 to 2015. With every part came new characters and scenes that not only weren’t in Tolkien’s legendarium, but also fulfilled ridiculous requests from WarnerBrother’s corporate. While they had given a lot of freedom for the original Lord of the Rings trilogy back in 2001, it was not so with the Hobbit trilogy. For example, one of the worst requests required a love interest, hence the creation of “Tauriel” played by Evangeline Lily. Lily does a serviceable job, but the love triangle between her, Legolas Greenleaf, and Kili the Dwarf is extremely sudden, and all that screen time could (and should) have gone to - well, literally any other character. Every time I rewatch the movies I usually fast forward through all her scenes and bemoan all the time that could have gone to Bilbo, or Thorin, or any of the many dwarves. The already bloated cast of thirteen dwarves, one hobbit, and one wizard certainly did not need unnecessary characters added, and instead the addition of the extra characters made up for the movies took away valuable conversation and development from characters that actually appear in the book. Unfortunately, the addition of Tauriel is just one of many mistakes, which added up to the franchise tripping and falling over its hobbit sized feet.

Unlike many Tolkien fans, I think the additions of Appendices material and other notes Tolkien used to fill out the original Hobbit book is not an unforgivable sin. It’s what makes it a Lord of the Rings-like franchise, something they probably couldn’t accomplish with the book as-is. The Hobbit is a sweet story for children published two decades before its sprawling epic sequel. A true adaptation of the novel would be a much more innocent affair over one, maybe two, parts. However, WarnerBrothers decided to capitalize on the originally planned double feature and make it a trilogy. The Battle of the Five Armies is about two pages in the book, and takes up three hours of runtime.

The material wasn’t the only problem, though. The dramatic directorial switch from Guillermo del Toro back to Peter Jackson threw pre-production into a tailspin, and gave Jackson much less time than he had for Rings. Del Toro poured more than eighteen months of his life into his vision of The Hobbit, but production delays and one of the film houses almost going under prompted his sudden exit. The quick handoff to Jackson made for a hurried production, with some design elements such as the main villain Azog not getting done until the middle of filming. In a rare moment of directorial honesty, Jackson admitted to not having clear directions most days and even giving the crew longer lunches while he figured out the shoots for the afternoon. In the middle of all of this, WarnerBrothers threatened to move operations due to union issues, which also put the Hobbit movie under duress. It got so bad that Jackson had a major health scare in the middle of shooting the first movie which delayed the start of filming again.

To make a good cake, it is paramount that all the ingredients work together scientifically to create the delicious confection. Exact measurements, fresh ingredients, baking time, attention to detail…these are all things needed to make a yummy cake. Despite all odds against it, the recipe for Lord of the Rings made the most delicious, fluffy, sweet, and balanced (and my personal favorite) cake. On the other hand, the Hobbit cake is…edible. It’s not like your homemade cake, though; it’s more like the cake a random coworker brings to the party that you’re too nice to be honest about, or like the Walmart cupcakes that are three days from expiration. There’s some stale parts, and it’s a bit under or over baked. The flavor isn’t the most popular, but there are some cake enthusiasts that really like this cake (like me!!!). And honestly, with the movie’s creation backstory it is a wonder the cake came out at all.

What about this new cake?

Fast forward ten years, and corporate interference rears its ugly head in Tolkien’s universe yet again. While Amazon seems content to let their showrunners make the calls, WarnerBrothers admitted to making War of the Rohirrim simply to hang on to its distributing rights for Lord of the Rings. Bottom line: a greedy mega-corporation funds a project without much thought or passion so that they can make more money later. Shocking, I know.

I remember headlines announcing War of the Rohirrim and its anime style, a decision that made me nervous. While I enjoy Studio Ghibli movies and other projects of Japanese origin, I was concerned because I knew that many American viewers, for one reason or another, tend to not support those kinds of movies. I would venture to point out that anime is not yet mainstream and the general American public tends to shy away from projects that are from the world of anime, even if they enjoy American animation (which is a real shame, in my opinion).

The plot is straightforward and easy to follow, even for those who have only seen the Jackson movies and have never read the books (if you haven’t, rectify that immediately). The story is set about two hundred years before Bilbo finds the One Ring. Remember the Titanic captain from the second Rings movie? This film is about that guy’s ancestors. Essentially, the movie is about a guy named Helm and how the cool fortress that gets blown up in Two Towers got its name.

Okay, fine. I’ll be more specific: the story follows the daughter of King Helm of Rohan as she and the royal family navigate fleeing their home city for a castle back in a valley. They’re running from a hot bad guy named Wulf whose dad was a competing warlord killed by the king years before. Wulf’s whole motive is to get vengeance and take over the throne and rule Rohan. He and his army take Edoras (that’s the capital of Rohan basically) by surprise and drive Hera, her family, and the whole town to the Hornburg. The people of Rohan hole up for weeks during a really brutal winter and wait for Wulf to give up. That’s as much as I can tell you without spoiling it.

My Thoughts…(Caution: Minor Spoilers Ahead)

One of my immediate takeaways was how the background of the whole movie looked like they uploaded Lord of the Rings footage through an animation filter. I knew there would be new characters, but I assumed the artists would interpret the locale of Middle-earth differently than the live action movies. To my confusion, I was met with buildings that looked exactly like the live action ones. While this in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I suppose I didn’t realize how much influence Alan Lee and John Howe had in the movie. It was my same reaction to how Amazon’s Rings of Power looked: not dissimilar to Peter Jackson’s movies (Amazon actually hired John Howe, who worked on all six Peter Jackson movies). It turns out that the War of the Rohirrim showrunners rehired both Lee and Howe as concept artists, which explains the familiar feel and look. The studio also marketed the movie as a “Return to Middle-earth”, which I sort of resented. I’ve already been back in Middle-earth for four years with Amazon’s Rings of Power TV show.

I have a few other critiques as well: the score didn’t really wow me, with the exception of Paris Paloma’s feature “The Rider” (which has been on repeat in my headphones for weeks and will probably appear on my 2025 Spotify Wrapped). I found the characters to be engaging and well designed enough to where I could remember names and faces. The villains were not particularly terrifying and frankly could have used more fleshed out motivation; sometimes revenge isn’t quite the plot device writers think it is. Revenge is a common motivator for villains, but it’s been played so many times that I was hoping for more. Playing up Wulf’s bloodthirstiness, his ambition, or even more backstory would have given his character more oomph. He was just like his onscreen character design: just a bit two-dimensional.

While I have several problems with the movie, there are things I really enjoyed, such as the main character Hera. In the clamor for more complex female main characters, it is hard to have one that isn’t obnoxiously I’m not like other girls or are just robots with no emotion at all (see: Katniss in the first Hunger Games book). One of my favorite scenes in War of the Rohirrim is when Hera is struggling with her new role as leader over her people who are trying to survive the bitter winter and the sieging wild men. She has a compelling scene where she is contemplating what to do. It is terribly refreshing to see a main character not have all the answers: she has to really ponder what the best thing for her people is. She has to devise plans and trick the enemy. She has doubts about her ability to lead and mourns the circumstances that have led to her taking up this position. That, my friends, is one of Tolkien’s most important tenets in his legendarium: people of all sorts of backgrounds, families, and statures can be used for mighty deeds, accomplish goods, and necessary leadership, especially to fight rising darkness and evil. Hera has a special agency that I want to see more of in future FMCs.

Speaking of Hera, Gaia Wise voices her; come to find out she’s actually Emma Thompson’s daughter, which technically makes her another Hollywood nepo-baby. She hasn’t been in very much, but she did a good job with Hera and I’d like to see where her career goes after this. Miranda Otto lends her voice for narration as her Lord of the Rings character Eowyn, and a few other familiar voices also make appearances (but you have to watch for yourself to find out who, or that would take the fun out of it). Frankly, I enjoyed the small cameos from various Lord of the Rings alum; one in particular was a very pleasant surprise. The heaviest hitter of the Rohirrim lineup is Brian Cox of Succession fame, who voices the commanding Helm Hammerhand. His deep and dynamic performance was one of the best in the whole film. Luke Pasqualino rounds out the three main characters as the vengeful Wulf; he starred in BBC’s The Musketeers and made an appearance in Snowpiercer. While I don’t think his character was as fleshed out as it could have been, I think the Pasqualino did the best he could, bringing a boy-next-door-turned-evil vibe that I liked. Something that helped the theater experience without subtitles was the motley of voices lended to the varying designs so it was easier to tell all the new characters apart. My favorite character was definitely the Rohannic royal cousin Frealaf played by Lawrence Ubong Williams; I want a whole movie on Frealaf and would love to see his character return in a similar project.

Oft Hope is Born When All is Forlorn

I wish a studio would give me the wildest desires of my heart: an animated show set in the First Age in the style of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, or other successful animated projects that cater to older children and adults. My other hope for another animated Tolkien project is a different art style than the original animated movies from the 1970s and the Peter Jackson projects; something fresh so that a new generation of animated artists can shine. I love what Alan Lee and John Howe have done for our interpretations of Middle-Earth, but I think it is time for a new generation of artists to take the reins (and I do not mean ChatGPT).

Speaking of A.I., I am concerned about the future of Middle-earth when it comes to WarnerBrothers; Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the Trilogy, recently expressed his desire to use artificial intelligence to make Lord of the Rings prequel films. I would need another entire Substack post to explain why using A.I. goes against everything Tolkien believes in. I am hoping Serkis has a change of heart and he and Jackson do not go forward with it, as it will be hard for me to want to support their 2026 Hunt for Gollum movie if that were the case. From what little information I can gather, Serkis wants to use it to deage the various actors that would narratively have to make appearances, such as Orlando Bloom and Viggo Mortensen.

Overall, my hope is that all movie studios, not just WarnerBrothers, go back to funding creatives to make good projects without motive - several of these billion dollar companies could stand to support their artists and pay fair wages instead of replacing valuable human talent with artificial intelligence. I truly hope that real passion and production time is put into Hunt for Gollum and all other future Middle-earth adaptations. I’ve been in love with the Professor’s books and Jackson’s movies since middle school; twelve year old Sarah would be over the moon right now with all the attention and love the books are getting in my twenties. I hope these new projects not only introduce new people to the wonders of Middle-earth, but also have old fans fall in love with the messages of Tolkien again.

If you liked the original Lord of the Rings movies and don’t hate women, then I recommend you give War of the Rohirrim a try. War of the Rohirrim starts streaming February 28th on HBO Max, or you can rent it right now on Amazon Prime. After you watch it, I’d love to hear your thoughts? What did you like/not like? Let me know, and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss more of my Middle-earth ramblings hitting your inbox. Tune in next week for my thoughts on a new show that Peter and I caught the other day (hint: I don’t think we’re on Baker Street anymore…).